Although I enjoy most Wimbledon traditions, one of the exceptions is the Middle Sunday. Before I launch into today’s topic, the unseeded players who have reached the second week, I wanted to share some thoughts about this lacuna. Feel free to jump down below the asterisks if you’d prefer. Otherwise, let me explain why I would dispense with the Middle Sunday.

Not just because Great Britain is a secular state, and the AELTC a secular organization.

Not just because it seems capricious to toss aside a quarter of your tournament’s weekend days. (You know, the days when people are best able to actually sit on their couches and watch things like tennis.)

Not just because it seems slightly elitist to separate the haves of the second week so sharply from the have-nots of the first.

Not just because arbitrarily removing an entire day from your schedule makes every rain delay loom that much larger. (This is exacerbated by the tournament’s refusal to start play on show courts earlier than 1 PM, leaving room for only three matches on each.) Nature has a sense of humor, by the way. Rarely does it rain on Middle Sunday.

Not just because “we do it this way because we’ve always done it this way” is one of the worst possible justifications for doing anything.

No, my main issue with Middle Sunday, and really the only issue that matters, is its impact on the schedule for the rest of the tournament. Almost a tradition in its own right, Manic Monday has a certain gaudy appeal at first glance. Lots of exciting stuff is happening! All at the same time! Everywhere! It’s a channel-surfer’s paradise: instant gratification, saturating the senses.

But the day rushes past before you know it, leaving no time to thoroughly savor and digest the delicious matches on the menu. We could appreciate each of these fascinating encounters better if the tournament divided the fourth round, the round that usually separates contenders from pretenders, into two days of four ATP and four WTA matches apiece.

Even more importantly, Middle Sunday and Manic Monday result in a gender-based bifurcation of the entire second week. At other majors, for example, fans can watch two men’s and two women’s quarterfinals on Tuesday, and the same lineup on Wednesday. At Wimbledon, fans must watch the ladies on Tuesday, the gentlemen on Wednesday, and so forth alternating each day to the end. Doubles is an exception, of course.

While I never have attended Wimbledon in person, I know that I prefer watching tournaments that interweave the men and the women in their schedules. General fans who follow both the ATP and the WTA appreciate the variety that the rich contrasts between them offer. The Australian Open has the ideal schedule in my view: two quarterfinals from each Tour on Tuesday, the rest of the quarterfinals on Wednesday, women’s semifinals and one men’s semifinal on Thursday, the remaining men’s semifinal on Friday, and night sessions for each of the singles finals. By the time that Friday arrives, obviously, there is almost no alternative to splitting the Tours. But starting that rigid alternation on Tuesday takes away part of what makes a major feel like a major: the chance to see the best players of both genders trading places with each other on the same court.

The US Open has scrapped its version of Middle Sunday, the “Super Saturday” on the second weekend that forced the men’s finalists to play best-of-five matches on consecutive days. That version of cruel and unusual punishment died a slower death than it should have. It’s time for Middle Sunday to start dying its slow death too.

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At any rate, on to the tennis! The chaos of the first week has left us with thirteen unseeded players in the fourth round. This article takes a look at how each of them reached Manic Monday, the biggest stage on which many have starred. And we discuss which of these underdogs you should buy, hold, or sell.

ATP:

Bernard Tomic: Into the second week of Wimbledon for the second time, he knocked off top-25 opponent Sam Querrey to start the tournament. Unlike many of those who started the tournament with a bang, Tomic used that victory to light the fuse of two more. His latest came against world No. 9 Richard Gasquet. Now looms his first career meeting with Tomas Berdych at the ATP level. While Berdych enters that match as the favorite, dark horses have intercepted him at majors before.

Buy, hold, or sell? Buy

Ivan Dodig: A bit of a Typhoid Mary last week, Dodig received two retirements in three matches. The Croat fell behind Philipp Kohlschreiber by two sets in the first round, but he recovered to sneak out the next two before Kohlschreiber’s odd “I feel tired” retirement. Not one to let this sort of opportunity go for naught, Dodig has not lost a set since. Now he faces David Ferrer, who has not had an easy win in the tournament and needed five sets to escape Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Buy, hold, or sell? Hold

Lukas Kubot: Sandwiched around a walkover were two straight-sets victories, the second against a seeded opponent in Benoit Paire. Kubot’s game fits the grass neatly with his reliance on quick strikes and ability to open the court. He looks to arrange an intriguing all-Polish quarterfinal in the section where everyone envisioned an epic Nadal-Federer collision.

Buy, hold, or sell? Buy

Adrian Mannarino: The man who vies with Kubot for that quarterfinal berth never had reached the second week at any major before. Like Kubot, Mannarino enjoyed a second-round boost when his opponent withdrew. John Isner’s retirement opened the door for him to exploit the sequence of upsets when Dustin Brown defeated Lleyton Hewitt, who had defeated Stanislas Wawrinka. Mannarino’s presence here thus seems more fortuitous than ferocious.

Buy, hold, or sell? Sell

Jurgen Melzer: Emerging from Roger Federer’s section of the draw, Melzer has advanced this far at a major before. A Roland Garros semifinalist in 2010, the veteran lefty has played exactly four sets in each of his three matches. He slew the man who slew the defending champion, benefiting from Sergiy Stakhovsky’s predictable lull. Jerzy Janowicz’s thunderous serve and youthful exuberance should prove a test much more arduous.

Buy, hold, or sell? Sell

Fernando Verdasco: 2013 could not have started much worse for Verdasco, who sagged outside the top 50 by the clay season. Wimbledon could turn his entire season around if he can take care of business against the anonymous man below him on this list. Verdasco did not benefit from the injuries of those around him, straight-setting both Julien Benneteau and the dangerous Ernests Gulbis. If his lefty serve keeps firing, his attitude of relentless aggression should play well on grass.

Buy, hold, or sell? Buy

Kenny de Schepper: Ranked somewhat higher than Mannarino, de Schepper is only the tenth-best Frenchman in the ATP. His presence in the fourth round reveals his nation’s tennis depth. Although he ousted the grass-averse Juan Monaco to end the first week, his debut in the second week of a major pits him against the far more experienced Verdasco. De Schepper’s best hope consists of a Verdasco letdown, which is not implausible, but he also must manage a moment to which he is unaccustomed.

Buy, hold, or sell? Sell

WTA:

Laura Robson: The darling of local fans caused British hearts to palpitate when Marina Erakovic served for the match against her in the third round. Lackluster in the early stages of that encounter, Robson found the poise to regroup as she turned the fraught atmosphere to her advantage. She upset world No. 10 Maria Kirilenko to start the tournament and can penetrate the grass smoothly with a massive lefty forehand. But she faces a daunting test in the next round against former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Kanepi.

Buy, hold, or sell? Buy

Kaia Kanepi: Eager to engage in a slugfest with Robson, Kanepi knows what it feels like to reach this stage of this tournament. A quarterfinalist as a qualifier in 2010, she built on those memories by upsetting the seventh-ranked Angelique Kerber in the second round. Kanepi showed as much toughness in that match as Robson did against Erakovic, mounting a similar comeback from a deep deficit. She struggled against a British journeywoman in her opener, which might not bode well for Monday, but Robson can expect a battle.

Buy, hold, or sell? Hold

Tsvetana Pironkova: Perhaps the least surprising of the unseeded women in the second week, Pironkova announced her presence by nearly double-bageling top-25 opponent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to start the tournament. Her form has dwindled a bit since then, including a three-setter against Petra Martic, and Radwanska has owned her for most of their careers. Pironkova lacks the power to hit through the Pole consistently, but she did defeat Radwanska on grass last year.

Buy, hold, or sell? Hold

Monica Puig: Scoring an upset against a top-five opponent is an excellent achievement in itself, as Puig did against Sara Errani. Building upon it is even more impressive, and that is where Puig separated herself from Steve Darcis, Sergiy Stakhovsky, and Michelle Larcher de Brito last week. Her lack of experience at majors may catch up with her against the suddenly seasoned Stephens, one of only three women to reach the second week at every major this year. Still, Stephens looked far from formidable in a three-set struggle against qualifier Petra Cetkovska.

Buy, hold, or sell? Hold

Karin Knapp: A victory over the ever-enigmatic Lucie Safarova highlighted Knapp’s unexpected three-match winning streak. The world No. 104 won just a single game from Marion Bartoli in their only previous meeting, though, and she would shock the tennis world if she solves the 15th seed. A 2007 finalist here, Bartoli has played surprisingly steady tennis and did not lose a set in the first week.

Buy, hold, or sell? Sell

Flavia Pennetta: When world No. 2 Victoria Azarenka withdrew, Pennetta sniffed a chance to reassert her presence. Her ranking has tumbled outside the top 150 after injury, but the Italian veteran twice before reached the second week at Wimbledon and can threaten on any surface. A stirring comeback against Alize Cornet brings her into a Monday match with the 20th-ranked Kirsten Flipkens. Reaching the final at the Dutch Open a week ago, Flipkens has won all of her matches in straight sets as the grass has rewarded her deft touch and forecourt skills.